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Columns and Editorials

Legislative sessions tend to be remembered for just a handful of new laws, and this year’s, which ended April 15, is no different.

The budget was understandably the most prominent, with its chief highlight being the significant amount of new money the General Assembly put toward the unfunded liabilities of our public retirement systems.

For the first time in many years, the winds of financial responsibility have begun to blow briskly through the marble halls of Frankfort. These welcome breezes are ushering in the promise of a fresh start for the Commonwealth.

This week, the General Assembly returns to the Capitol to wrap up the 2016 legislative session.

While this time traditionally has been set aside just to consider whether the House and Senate should override any vetoes a governor might issue, we have begun in recent years to also use this time to vote on other bills that were unresolved before the veto recess. This year, the biggest of those is the state’s two-year budget.

It’s fair to say that we in the United States venerate the economic and the social value of people holding down a job.

We hear monthly reports about the unemployment/employment rates. Educational efforts at the public school and the university level are both increasingly geared toward learning skills with an eye on students landing careers. I hear there are a few dozen workforce training programs that trickle down from the federal level.

At the end of a legislative session, months of preparation and weeks of debate give way to a handful of days where the General Assembly and governor decide what will become law and what will have to wait.